problem and is doing something about it. what we do about tax expenditures. but the tax code. the tax code -- look at the tax code. every year, it gives away $1.10 trillion in tax breaks. a lot of the things are for what we value -- health insurance premiums, mortgage interest -- but, believe me, there are many things that just come off as favors for individuals in certain sectors of our economy. $1.10 trillion in the tax code. do know how much we collecting personal taxes? $1.10 trillion -- of the money paid by and. -- individual taxpayers. we are going to step back and look to this. how much are we going to change to reduce the deficit? some of the things we are

protecting, maybe should not be protected. can we be honest? if we put all of the spending on the table, can we put the tax breaks on the table, too? host: diane joins us from back and ruche, and -- louisiana. -- bought some ruche, louisiana -- baton rouge, louisiana. caller: you have given us apply for of things to talk about. -- a plethora of things to talk about. i call on the republican line, but my family has been a democrat for many years i have been a grandmother. i do not feel that the region that i left the democrat party. the democrat party left knee.

i have become a republican. i'd like to challenge some of your statements. you say that there is solvency in social security. my husband and i are baby boomers. i understand that if more is going out than coming in, i do not understand how there can be solvency. he cannot kick the can down the road. -- you cannot take the can down the road. he need to address that more is coming out than is coming in. you also talk about president clinton and his surplus, but following politics as i have, because i have become so concerned about my future, my children's future, my grandchildren's future, i feel that during the clinton years -- and i voted for president clinton -- i feel that he

somewhat, or his party somewhat, cooked the books. guest: thank you for calling. congratulations on 14 grandchildren. so security and solvency -- here are the facts. not changed and not touched, social security will make every payment that has been promised's 2037. she says -- promised until and 2037. it reflects the apply -- the fact we have been putting more money into the social security trust fund and we have been paid out. we saw you coming with the baby boomers. the idea was to build up a surplus. which covered the need. i did not know that much about social scared when i was elected.

they said it was broke, so we fixed on a bipartisan basis. president ronald reagan and tip o'neill came together and literally save social security -- 50 years of solvency. what happens in 2037? she is right about that part. in 2037, that payment goes down 22%. that worries us. my feeling on the deficit commission is do something today, small in comparison to what it might require 25 years ago, that will guarantee is the guarantee solvency beyond. some of my colleagues say do not touch it. i voted for the commission. the question is how much does a social security program add to the nation's deficit? the question is -- the answer is

zero. we borrow in a way that the general treasury those social security. on the clinton presidency cooking the books, we enjoyed two or maybe three years of surpluses, and helped to pay down the debt of this country, and to make social security solvent for an even longer period of time. there was greater growth than we have seen in modern memory in business ownership, home ownership, and the overall growth in real wages for american workers. i would stand in defense of what happened during the clinton years. i do not believe they cooked the books. i believe they balanced the books, which has not happened since. host: jackie, and the penn line, cape cod, massachusetts. good morning. caller: how much does the

government get in royalties from natural -- natural resources? you have been on that committee, so i assume you can answer the question. why did we decide to become such a big trade partners with communist china? guest: good questions. i am going to need a lifeline. i do not know the amount of royalties we have received for natural resources. i do not think we have received enough. the rights we give to private companies, i do not think are adequately compensated. host: that was the issue from a report that said the federal government could get more revenue to offset losses in other areas. guest: there is no question about it -- is a sweetheart arrangement. whether we are talking about grazing rights, or the use of

federal land for the extravagant of minerals, i think the taxpayers deserve compensation. some of these deals go back 100 years to laws that are just ancient. that is one of the realities. host: one last call from rick in fairfax, virginia. caller: how do you explain your national taxpayers union of f, and are the democrats not protecting the wealthy by capping the insurance tax deduction? guest: i do not know anything about the national taxpayers union. if we are not honest about revenue and spending, we will not deal with this deficit. be honest approach is that we need to know what people will

pay. i think it is an honest approach it goes to the question, are those that are better off, should they be pay more? i think yes. host: public broadcasting, that is one of the areas republicans want to see cut. take us through the debate. guest: if we are serious, loading it up with every political issue, might be a great political exercise, but that does not solve the basic problem. we need a clean spending bill that deals with the bottom line. we need to get through this year, and work for the debt ceiling, and our deficit and spending for the next five years. those are overwhelming challenges. let's not muddy the waters with the bill that was to include everything about funding the

national public radio. that just adds clutter. let's get down to basics and get it right. host: should tax reform be a part of this debate? guest: i think it should. easy for me to say. . . led by vice president joe biden along with the staff bill bailey your friend from chicago and jack luke. the second meeting has been scheduled. when will they meet again? >> guest: i don't know. i talk to harry reid afterwards and i don't think the second meeting has been scheduled.

there will be one on monday or tuesday next week after the senate votes i think we will take a step forward in the evolution of the decision making and i hope at that point speaker boehner when he sees the house republican that has no chance in the senate will be willing to sit down and negotiate as well as the democrats willing to sit down and negotiate. >> guest: >> host: i want to ask an institutional question because as a member of house and not the senate there's always been the back-and-forth that house republicans blaming senate democrats for inaction, senate democrats have set the house bills that come to the senate floor. is this what the framers intended? [laughter] >> guest: it's the old cliche that they used to say in the house, the republicans -- the republicans our adversaries but enemy.ate is the and i know that i spent 14 yeare over their planning the senate for everything that went wrong and now the senate is blamed the other way. the tension between the two chambers is a positive thing. in the long run positive thing run. in the short run, it can

frustrate you and make you angry. the senate and rules that slow the senate and rules that slow

california congressman mike

honda spoke about the need for immigration legislation at a conference on housing policy and minority communities. following his remarks a discussion on how immigration affects housing policy. this is an hour and 30 minutes. >> okay. good morning everybody. we can do better than that. buenos dias. give yourself a round of applause on the second day of the morning we asserting the conference. if i could ask everybody to start taking your seats, and i do want to announce to everybody that today's panel is actually a very exciting panel. it's one that is when to be filled with tremendous value, so much so we are actually going to be covered live on c-span. so yes.

yes. isn't that good stuff? absolutely. [applause] let's see. let's make sure -- yeah, we will get everybody in here so treated. go ahead and take your seats. let me see who made it to the morning panel and for those of passan pacific standard time you understand it is 6 o'clock in the morning on their biological clock. let's see where we are. [applause] [cheering] are we in the house? [applause] [cheering] i love the energy from that table right over there. thank you. thank you. okay. we are going to give c-span the two-minute warning so we can go ahead and get situated. are we okay with that? thank you. very good. well, good morning everybody. buenos dias.

how has this conference been so far? [applause] how many of you made it to the hill? was that a wonderful experience? how many of you need it to the reception last night? that was first-class. let's give the nar a big round of applause. thank you. we heard some great testimony there and also some stories that really bring home the cultural and diverse market kind that subject so we are very appreciative of that. we are going to start off today with a treat and that is to bring up congressman mike honda coming and as we do this are we ready? we are ready. fantastic. congressman mike honda has represented the 15th congressional district in california of the u.s. house of representatives for a decade. in congress representative honda is a member of the powerful house appropriations committee to richard of the congressional asia pacific american caucus,

co-chair of the democratic caucus new media working group and house democratic senior with and the original author of the equity and excellence commission now housed in the u.s. department of education. he includes the silicon valley. anybody from california? there we go. [applause] [cheering] is the birthplace of the technology innovation and now the country's leading developer of green technology. mike has dedicated his life to public service and lauded for his work on education, civil rights, national service, immigration, transportation, the environment and high-tech issues. serving as a california state assembly member, senator kafta for the supervisor san jose unified school board member, peace corps volunteer in el salvador and with over 30 years of education as a teacher, principal and school board member, his commitment to

serving the people of california's 15th district is an unwavering and unparalleled. let's give him a big welcome for mike honda. [applause] >> hello. i thought that was caribbean. good morning brigety. it's a pleasure to be here. i just want to thank the multicultural realistic and policy conference for choosing this topic of immigration. i think this is a topic that has been around for awhile and i think that the immigration issue has been used as a political football. i think some people have been used as a football and the goal

line was the border and in what has been misspent, misdirected, but all in the name of, you know, political convenience. it's something that has gone on in this country for a long time. being a teacher, i thought that i have a background on immigration and since i only have ten minutes, i thought i would try to do this in 15. [laughter] and you have the wonderful panel coming up that's scholarly, so as they speak they can correct some of the things i have said which is fine, i'm a politician. you know, i can be corrected. my staff always says the congressman meant to say was -- [laughter] so, given that caveat, one of the reasons i want to go back into the history is because immigration is not new.

it is hit all of us in some way in some fashion what is community or personal or is our organization, and as professional real-estate brokers and agents, you are the customers at tickets for housing and in being an advocate it is important for all of us to understand who we serve, with the background is, and in the backdrop of the political scene sometimes we find ourselves in boiled. so let me start with that. this year, the new session there's going to be two bills that were going to be presented by the members of the congressional asia-pacific american caucus. one is the alien and enemy sedition act of 1798, and the other is the exchange exclusion act of etd two. going all the way back there,

huh? we say this country is a country of immigrants, but we see that without sometimes understanding of the complete and, you know, the history of quebec to the 1700's. and there will be some common threads as i go through this. i hope it becomes evident, and it's about racism, it's about fear, it's about politics, and it's about power. sometimes it is woven with agreed, and others, just pure political power. and we look at today's issues. we are trying to make the issue of comprehensive immigration reform about people, about what's good for this country. so, i will try to go back to the alien sedition act of 1798.

it was during president adams era. we were at odds with france, and there's four parts to the alien and sedition act 1798; three of them were either sunsetted, repealed or found of no use any more. the fourth one that still exists says that the president under a declaration of war the team and put into jail, incarcerate or deport any persons of alien back -- any alien background. and they don't talk about the will of the alien enemies or the person not in any alien ancestry might be a citizen also.

but, both of the words that are used, and it is still in existence today, this is -- the president can do this just merely on the power of suspicion or disagreement of the person who is speaking out on an issue. but the caveat is that there has to be a declaration of war against the country. now, we can fast forward and go to 1941, december 7th. perot harbor was attacked, the japanese attacked pearl harbor. there were 120,000 japanese-americans in this country. two-thirds of whom were u.s. citizens. natural born citizens. the authors were not able to become naturalized because of the antiasian laws past against asians in general or the mollyann race. so, we have the scenario of the

war command president at that time, roosevelt, signed an executive order 9066 that allowed the incarceration of some of italians, some germans, and all of the 120,000 japanese ancestry. some italians and some germans because not all of them were incarcerated but most of them were harassed, ridiculed or made to make up at night and pledge allegiance to the flag with their kids and families in the middle. the italians on the west coast according to the declaration of general dewitt was a demarcation line, most of which dimond citizens could not be at. so if i am i telling and fishing

family was on the west side of the highway one, then the parents who were aliens or were permanent citizens had to go to the other side of the freeway or the road while the children would be able to live on the better side of the house. all of these little things, all of these silly things are true to life now because of the fact that the japanese americans have started to talk about what happens to them and 1942, february when we were evacuated from the west coast. we started to learn about that because people started talking about it. japanese-americans took it upon themselves to say at that time our constitutional rights were abridged and we want an apology from our government. it took ten years starting in 1978 and 1988 with the leadership [inaudible]

and congress and the senate had passed h.r. 442, which said the united states apologized to those persons who were incarcerated and victimized by 9066. but it also said it during that process of building the commission was established to study why it happened, and the conclusion of the commission of the commercial members and citizens said that it was the result of war hysteria, racial hatred, and the failure of political leadership, failure of political leadership. it didn't say the active leadership of politicians, but the failure of political leadership in doing what is

right. i want to go back to 1882 to the exclusion act. in the 1861, president lincoln had appointed a gentleman by the name of anderson birmingham who was a congressman from massachusetts. he appointed him the minister to china. this gentleman was sent to china , and burlingame was a scholar. he was a linguist and he loved learning and he loved people. he learned the language, he learned culture, he learned the history, and he was able to put together a treaty between the united states and china that made china a more sievert nation. if i were to say that today, people would say what is wrong with you? they would try to take my temperature because we use china as both a country that we adore

because we trade with them and one that we a -- a poor because we have a relationship with them and so there's a schizophrenic relationship or mantle would be that we have about china. well, going back to 1861, and anderson burlingame, he was able to do this and create this because he knew how to go about understanding differences and he saw the value of language and other people. well, chinese immigrants were used as laborers and they helped build the railroads, they helped build the delta area in california, they helped build the economic conditions of the country, and then work was no longer needed. sounds familiar about the process on the program where we contracted cheap labor to come

and work force and when we don't need them we send them back again. well, the immigration of chinese continued to come in and it became a problem. so 1882 the chinese exclusion act was passed, and it stopped immigration to completely prohibiting emigration to occur. if you get the books this is the only chapter in the immigration law we that has specifically pointed out one group to be excluded from immigration. only one in our books. and so, the reason we are looking at the chinese exclusion act of 1882 as an issue today for us as congress people, asian american congress is to bring to light the history, the

background, and bring it to today's situation where we face over immigration issues and tell ourselves, to ask ourselves is this something, and we are doing today? are we creating fear? are we zooming in on one group unfairly or is the immigration issue about human beings who are coming here to seek a better life? is it about talking to people here who are undocumented, who came here with documents and documents became field and in expired because the state. and is this an issue where we need to fix the situation rather than exclude them, vilify them and create fear around them and try to make it so that it becomes a political issue rather than a human issue to solve.

i contend that the exercise of looking at repealing the alien and sedition act and the exclusion act could be the basis for us to start to teach again and to learn who we are and where we can from. now this birling they mentioned who was the minister to china had some poppy missing francisco bay area, property, that should be of importance to you guys, right? those of you from california, have you heard of the area called burlingame california? right. well, it was named after him, that's where he owned his property. so the area has a good start on people who understand asians and chinese in specific. and we have a history of people that understand the goodness of humanity and the goodness of this country and i would hope

through our exercise and looking at the repo of the two acts that we would be able to revisit that humanity that we all have now as they do best american character. i'm going to close because i only have seven minutes. [laughter] i have a feeling that jerry is some place. [laughter] there he is to get [laughter] i just saw the movie again about to guatemalans youngsters who came to the united states and went through all the stuff that we hear about latinos going through about the songs they wrote of this is my house. it's about people from central

america and in texas they call them otm, other than mexicans. [laughter] and this is what we have within our own experiences of people outside our experience don't have it's humorous in some ways it's really sad in most ways and so i went on to close with this issue. those of us who had this immigrant background, when we came to congress, we -- if we don't forget we are and where we come from, we can take our history and background and turn that into policy to make the policy of more precise, more focused and humane. because we should know where we come from. i talked about asians in general. and touched upon latinos.

we have the congressional black caucus, the congressional hispanic caucus and cpac. it's come to the surface because we understand now even though slavery was not an immigration issue its and as and humane as it was african-americans were brought here, not integrated, but more recently in this history of this country we have immigrants from columbia, 25% of the popular dvd population our afro columbia and the central american countries that border the gulf, the population is mainly are afro descendants. the caribbean have close to 40

islands, five languages, and they all come to this country as immigrants and to blanket all of the afro descendants under one title. the tension of equity and education, the language and the attention to their own cultural and historical background and so this whole issue of comprehensive immigration reform is not only about latinos, it's not embedded in 9/11 and it shouldn't be embedded in fear, race, or the failure of the leadership. it should be embedded in that humanity that we all have, that we all recognize that makes this country so strong. martin luther king in his last speech before he was murdered,

he said there's all kinds of folks and i translated to there's all kinds of politicians. those who decide which way the wind blows, those who want to be popular, but he said the person that's the most important, the politician that's the most important is person of conscience, the person who will do the right thing. so understanding the history, our culture and as a broad landscape and incorporated that internally and internalize that as we develop policies and as we go through our profession makes us better advocates and bitter policymakers and to that end, we should be mindful of the kind of teachings from our own religion, the kind of teaching from folks like martin luther king like we

should be people of conscience. i will ask you to keep in on what is going on here in terms of comprehensive immigration reform and the kind of things that we are doing. and these two things have basis of immigration reform. so we would like to make sure that citizens who are petitioning and people of permanently else that is a petition for their own families to be reunited that they are given that consideration because they are in fact citizens. and we are going to be the nordstrom's of immigration than they are always right. and then in that, to the reuniting families fact, we added another population that has been in the corners of all of those until recently. i had a community meeting and my

friend is the leader in fun the lesbian transsexual community and said those of us in the domestic partnership or the same sex marriage situations cannot apply for immigration because our law passed against us and so those kind of things as we move through don't ask "don't ask, don't tell," the more and more states are recognizing the domestic partnerships it's time for us to recognize the community that are recognized and who have created their partnerships in the long term relationships with partners to be included in this kind of bill in the consideration. so, i see this as a country maturing over the last 250 years to the point where we have to come and should become what the constitution says in the

preamble and the more perfect union. and i leave you with these thoughts and hope that we can count upon you to be our allies in this struggle to make sure we have a comprehensive immigration reform. thank you so much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, mike honda. [applause] congressman mike honda. [applause] >> this is pretty. thank you so much. congressman mike honda, please. thank you. [applause] >> what a powerful message. i'm going to bring of the

panelists. thank you, congressman mike honda. for that tremendous amount of information. what we can gather is that immigration situation is not a hispanic subject. it is one that goes beyond the hispanic experience. we've heard of the asian experience and of other areas that are also affected by the immigration issue. i would like to bring about what analysts now if i could and have them take the seat and then we are going to do something interactive with everybody that's here participated. why don't we have frank, up. frank sharry is the director of the american voice and with the support of allies in the immigration reform community, he created a new organization and early 2008 to focus on the communications and the media as a part of the renewed effort to win a comprehensive immigration reform. prior to heading america's voice, frank served as an executive stricter of the national immigration forum for

17 years. the forum which is based in washington, d.c. is one of the nation's premier immigration policy organizations and has been the center of every major legislative policy debate related to immigration for the past quarter century. before joining the forum, frank was the executive director of a local organization working with central american refugees in the greater boston area. he initially became interested in the immigrants and refugees while teaching in singapore in the late 1970's. he was hired to assist the rescue relocation of both refugees fleeing the war torn vietnam and landing in indonesia. sharry is a native of and a graduate of princeton university. let's welcome frank sharry. [applause] >> we'd like to welcome chris herbert.

christopher herbert joined the center as the research director in august, 2010. prior to that he was a senior associate in housing the community development practice. he brings more than two decades of experience conducting research related to housing policy, housing markets, housing finance and urban development read in the recent years, herbert's work has focused on efforts to promote and maintain homeownership for low-income and minority families. his work in this area has included relations of the federal and state homeownership programs, vetoed literature reviews and analysis of the disparities in the mortgage lending and residential for closure by the income analysis and by race and ethnicity. among his most recent research reports and his reports to congress on the root of causes of the foreclosure crisis. the homeowner should experience of the low-income and minority

families the review and synthesis of literature. part of the joining of these as it's in the 1987, 1997 dr. herbert senior research analyst at the joint center for housing studies. he has a ph.d. in public policy from harvard university. let's give a big welcome to dr. chris herbert. [applause] >> i would like to call it the third panelist. somebody known to the three coalition organizations, and that is assistant secretary john trasvina. let's give a big welcome. secretary trasvina was nominated by president obama to be the assistant secretary for the fair housing and equal opportunity on april 25, 29 and confirmed unanimously by the u.s. senate on may 1st of 2,009. the housing and equal opportunity administers and enforces federal law and so bush's policies that make sure

all americans have equal access to the housing of their choice. before joining the obama administration, assistant secretary trasvina served as president in the general counsel of the mexican-american legal defense fund known as maldev where he led the firm for the community by advancing litigation and public policy in the areas of civil rights immigration, education and related issues. assistant secretary trasvina began his career at maldev in washington, d.c. as a legislative attorney back in 1985. he later worked for u.s. senator paul simon and general counsel and staff director for the u.s. senate judiciary subcommittee on the constitution. in 1997, president clinton appointed secretary trasvina has a special counsel for immigration related employment practices. as the special counsel until 2001, he led the only federal

government opposite to vote solely to the immigrant and immigration workplace rights and was the highest ranking latino attorney at the u.s. department of justice. after returning to california, assistant secretary trasvina taught immigration law at stanford law school and was the director of discrimination research center in berkeley. previously, he was a member of the san francisco election commission, president of the harvard club of san francisco and the board member of the of la raza lawyers association latino issues forum. the to the big round of applause to john trasvina, secretary john trasvina. [applause] now everybody can just take those clickers for the week we will devotee to get involved and hear a variety of voice. what we are going to be similar to yesterday's participation, i think we have one for each of the panelists -- and we are actually going to be monitoring yours on a separate -- just

kidding. don't panic. it will go during the mix. not a problem. when you were to do by the way is answer the question with this although remote, one year less remote and all of the questions will be tallied in the back so we can take a look at your answers on the screen. so if we could have the first question popup. how important is the immigration policy to your business? one, very important, never to, somewhat important, three, not important at all. ten seconds on account of now. ♪ and the survey says -- we don't have an answer. let's take a look at that and we want to mention every score of

everybody that's here is going to be tallied up based on 100 basis points and then we give the percentage of who leans towards one, two or three. do we need to do a retake on that? we are okay? okay so we are waiting right now for the result to come up. hauer important is the immigration policy to your business? obviously we see we have a full room here. something that is absolutely as important to a lot of you that you ought to hear about it. back here. is it working? let's go to the next question. we will go to the back first. give you a few seconds. okay. let's give a round of applause

to our technical people that there. they are doing a fantastic job. that is the first of the day, no problem, and by the way, by the way, congressman mike honda, what a wonderful, wonderful message. again, the immigration issue not being hispanic which is many times labeled as that but one that transcends into the asian community and one that transcends into other communities, even the african-american community as was shared by congressman mike honda. so it is something we definitely want to flush out. part of what we want to discuss today will only has to do with the immigration issue as a social justice issue or as was mentioned as the fair and proper thing to do what is the right thing to do but also has become what relates to housing because of a buddy here is involved in the housing industry. all of those that are in housing mix of noise. here we go. [applause]

we want to make sure you get the full perspective on that. we want to see if we can get our results and if they are ready to be posted. are we get to go guys? we are going to take care of those questions behind them. let's get a round of applause and some encouragement. a very good. what we are going to do is i want to start opening up with frank and let me take a seat here so we get a little bit more comfortable. once again let's welcome our panel. [applause] we are going to start with loving frank share a little about the insight and start to open it up for us in terms of the immigration and which

relates to housing and immigration as a whole. we've heard one perspective from congressman mike honda, and now let's open it up to a different point of view. we understand of course and we know frank has been an absolute advocate, passionate person in terms of the immigration subject so i will now turn it over. >> thank you very much and good morning to all of you. have to give a tip to congressman mike honda. he's an incredible champion for the justice and the congress and i really want to thank him for his leadership on the whole range of issues. immigration as we all know as the congressman says generates a lot more heat than light. it gets people upset that you're having breakfast while hearing about it, it might be upsetting to you, but let me try to shed some light on a subject which is very contentious and controversial. we have in this country right now about 38 million immigrants.

all of those -- almost one-third are here without documents. and that is the issue that dominates the debate. how the 11, 12 million people get here illegally and what should we do about it, how should we solve the problem. those of us very close to would understand some things that aren't well known in the debate that aren't often talked about. first of all the 11 million or so people that are here illegally is that there is for the most of them to get into. the can't get in line in the united states, they can't get in line in their home country and the only option if you want to come to work in the united states is to come and legalize it. some 400 by each year in the deserts of arizona. trying to make it into the country or on boats from the bahamas, haitians trying to get into the united states, people risk their lives to get here. in fact if you are here as a young person who's graduated from high school as a valid

torian and you were brought in diapers without papers this for you to get into so that you can go to college in the same way that others can accept in a few states. if you remember the debate which is called the treen act which would allow young people who have chronic in america, pledge allegiance to the flag, many of them on to serve in the military, many want to go to college, many want to open businesses and want to contribute to the country and then a tragic vote one majority of the house and the democratic vote for the dream act and 155 votes in the senate but only in the u.s. senate would have voted 55 to 41 not enough to pass. as a result who are american and the people worked for denied the opportunity to complete the college and serve in the military. so the debate comes down to

this. are these people subjected to data laws or bad people subjected to get laws? these are people who are law breakers' think we need a border, a strategy to compel people here to leave the country either by deportation and making life so miserable for the state law and federal law if we have to leave the country, a strategy that is politely called attrition through enforcement rich for my mind is a mass deportation with a smiley face on top of it. but nevertheless that's one approach, let's get rid of the people here. the other approach mike honda was referencing and john has been a champion of in his many years as a civil rights hero in this country is something we call comprehensive immigration reform that says instead of a 14th century response to the 21st century situation, i.e. building a wall at the border, maybe we can do something like modernizing our immigration system and that is what we call

comprehensive immigration reform. the goal of comprehensive immigration reform is to end illegal immigration. but to do so in a way that is both practical and humane. what we mean? professional accountable enforcement, in the post-9/11 world wheat secure borders. but we also have to realize that to keep out side of the border is a help-wanted sign 100 yards in. what are we going to do about that? we are going to have to crack down on illegal hiring in a way that we just haven't come as a way to make sure workers are legal and make sure they are protected and to make sure honest employers aren't undercut by dishonest employers. but we can't do that unless we have the legal work force, the e 11 million undocumented immigrants in the united states. 7 million of whom are in the work force. most of them working for more than a decade most of them live in families, the idea they are recent arrivals could be shoved out of the country isn't realistic comedies are rude people in the community.

many of you deal with them because they're looking to buy homes involved in the housing market because they work hard and pull their money and want to live the american dream, too. eventually they should be able to work toward citizenship. [applause] opponents say that is an amnesty with lawbreakers. we think if you do it right if an accountability measure to solve the problem. if people have to study english, peter texas, said the background check and earn their way toward citizenship that is a way to make sure if there's good people here that want to join america, they can do so through an orderly process. but what about the families who are waiting for loved ones overseas? something that's very big, a big issue in the asian-american community. what about people who are waiting sometimes ten, 20 years

to be reunited through the legal immigration system. the way the comprehensive immigration reform would work is that family members who are waiting overseas in the back wall is about 4 million people would be able to come in and accelerated fashion before any of the people here illegally get the permanent resident. in other words as the equity measure we would have to clear out the back wall to make sure the people waiting in line come in and get their green cards before people here illegally get theirs and we need to modernize our legal immigration system. we need to make sure we need high skilled workers there is a flexible system for it. if we did lose the workers there is a flexible system for it. bigot have a flexible system that says we have to protect american workers particularly at the time of high unemployment. that's what comprehensive immigration reform is coming to end illegal immigration but do so in a way that america is a nation of immigrants and a nation of law.

there's a tremendous push in the middle of the last decade george w. bush who wasn't my kind of president on most issues to be honest, but he was really quite progressive on this issue and he fought hard with ted kennedy, my hero, and john mccain, who used to be my hero. i still prefer the old john mccain to the new john mccain. he was such a champion and a maverick, but now i guess -- well, it would take a whole bunch of ph.d. s to figure that one out. in any case, they fought hard in 2006 and 2007 and we came very close to a breakthrough on immigration. that didn't happen. president obama when he was a candidate promised he would make it a priority. he had other priorities. republicans as well and we are faced in the situation now we have arizona copycat laws proliferating around the country, threatening to again, the purpose of it is to make life so unbearable that deeply

rooted undocumented immigrants will pick up and leave. especially those of you who know of the undocumented immigrants to work with them and the hard-working folks and that could be easily pushed around by some tough talking of a direct and mean spirited laws. [applause] and the folly of thinking a population the size of ohio is going to be driven out of this nation of immigrants to not only as impractical that has on american. we are going to have a tough time for a few years but here's the thing and you will notice well. there is a demographic and political inevitability to what is happening in america. america is changing dramatically. we will be a majority, minority nation within the next 30 years or so and some people don't like that change, do they? some people don't like the fact america is changing.

some people think it's wonderful the dynamism and the diversity is making america a stronger country and that we are including more people and we are becoming that more perfect union than the founding fathers talked about. others think we have to somehow stop this demographic transformation of america because somehow it will ruin the country. well you know when you work and your business and your families that what is happening in america is a positive thing and in fact eventually, the politics and the economics will make it imperative to congress and enact something like comprehensive immigration reform, and when they do those 11 or 12 million people lined up to pledge allegiance to become americans, they will have more income because now there is a drag on their wages because of the status. they will be opening business at a greater rate, and yes, they will be buying homes at a greater rate. [applause]

>> can we go back because i would like to think of the group in this intimate of the questions. are we ready? okay, everybody grab your clickers one more time. let's try that, by the way because we want to talk about why his -- wally is immigration so important? we want to talk about what impact so our professions, our businesses, and what are the prospects of the immigration reform? why is it so polarizing? i.t. we all understand the current immigration situation is broken. we can all agree to that. but how do we fix it? what would that look like? what landscape would involve? those are the things we want to hear for our panelists today that everybody grab your remote and let's go back and we will circle right back. thank you very much. how important is immigration policy to your business? one, two or three. five seconds left. the survey says 62%.

your voice your opinion. 62%. first question. got that. let's go to number two. have you ever hired undocumented immigrants? have you ever hired an undocumented immigrant? sleeper or permanent? one, two or three? answer the question. ..

>> four seconds left. interesting. okay. 69% no. 69% in the room. okay. next question. are you an immigrant? were you born abroad? yes, no, no, but at least one of my parents is an immigrant. so are you first generation? okay. interesting. okay. 28 with 13. very good. okay. fantastic. right. how has the housing crisis affected your immigrant home buyers? number one, property values have made them more interested in buying a home. number two, they are less interested in buying a home. number three, they are equally

as interesting in buying a home as they have always been. 1, 2, or 3. let's go. ♪ >> interesting. okay. number three, they are equally as interesting in buying as home as they've always been prior to the crisis. okay. very good. next question. is that it? okay. did we do all of the survey? fantastic. well, now we've heard the answers, and frank, i'll turn it right back over to you. because you've heard, you know, part of what we've been discussing here. we want to see the framework as far as if we fix this, what's that going to look like? are there? is there light at the end of the tunnel? is there a hope here? short term? long term? and what would that look like?

>> i think the short term property spects are bleak, and the long term prospects are bright. i think that's going to -- this country is going to have -- continue to have a ferocious debate. when it comes clearer and clearer the choices who are expelling 11 million people who are hard working families who are making a contribution, or figure out how to make sure these folks can meet certain criteria to get a path of legal status as part of a broad reform that ends illegal immigration and the function. i think the debate will become clear over the next few years we'll get a strong strong -- moe political will to do what americans want to do. enact a comprehensive reform that will fix immigration once and for all. >> thank you, frank.

in terms of the number, over to dr. chris herbar, kind of numbers are we dealing with here? how big is the immigration issue? >> thanks, jerry, i'm going to try to match the passion of the research and scholars and the panelist here today. i had a power point, you say sure, they can, say carried away. i'm going to dispense. because we have time, i want to stick with the discussion. let me highlight a few key points. i think there's a lot more heat than light around the debate. i think the important issue that immigrants have become an incredibly important part of our society. in 1970 when we had the lull in immigration, immigrants were one in five. today they are one out of eight. immigrants are a key part of our society. the way immigration has been

substantially latino. there's also a quarter asia, 18% from europe, africa, all over the world. when we think about immigrants, it's very, very diverse group. they come from all parts of the world and come with different endowments. there are a lot of immigrants that are poorly educated, and a lot of immigrants are highly educated. one thing that marks immigrants, this speaks to frank's comments, they are striving to get ahead. come in at a low level of income and education, over time immigrants make progress in closing the gap and obtaining home ownership. there are a lot of ways to look at it from a housing per spect of. as for native americans, the home and housing is important in terms of the quality of life and place to gather your family and the moneys that you live in and

services. it's an opportunity to build wealth. all of those things are as important or more important for immigrants who are making a stake in america. what i was going to speak to is the issue of immigrants were our economy and our housing market. that's an important issue to bare in mind as we think about their role here. in the 1990s, as immigration was reaching very high levels, the country, our demographic profile was one where we had fewer people entering the 20s and 30s. we had the baby bust, following the baby boom. at that point, we expected the housing market to slow down. it didn't in large part because immigrants came in, they come in the age of 20 and 30s at the working household. in 1990, it accounted for 30%, and accounted for '80s, there were twice and much. and they have accounted for more than 1/3 of our household.

they man the construction, they are a lot of the workers. immigrants are incredibly important to our housing market. you see in many markets the first time buyers in the immigrants because they are in the young age group. another thing to bare in mind we have a growing wave of second generation. the next generation is more and more the children of immigrants. the issue is in terms of culture and at picture -- aspirations are going to be fundamentally important. there is a strong yearning for home ownership. at time when they first enter the country because they may not be here -- not sure they are going to stay long term because of the income and age. they progress rapidly into home ownership. the differences between native born and immigrants over time really narrows substantially.

i know this audience is interested in home ownership primarily. but renters are also fundamentally important. in many areas, renters are 40 to 50% of the rental market. for that part of the real estate market, immigrants are vitally important. in terms of the impact of the recession, many respects, the foreclosure crisis has fallen hard on minorities. it's hard to get good demographic information about who has been fore closed on. but a study by the center for responsible lender when they are able to merge in racial data, african-americans and hispanics are twice as likely to experience a foreclosures as whites are. we don't have information about immigrants. you can see the foreclosure experiences reflected in home ownership. we all know the national home ownership rate has been falling. falling most for african-americans. what's interesting is it hasn't

fallen as much for hispanics and asias. foreign born home ownership rates are going up. that speaks to the tenacity of the group in terms of society. the other, i need to tip the hat to renters. renters generally in this country has been experiencing increasing pain and burdens over time. that has been between more of a problem in the foreign born. among native borns, in the lowest percentile. 50% may for housing. think about what's left over. among the foreign born, the ratio is the 61%. 61% of the foreign born in the lowest income spend more than half of their income on house being of that's a fundamental problem in the quality of life that people can have. in looking forward, i do think that one the questions that i

asked, jerry, was attitude of the desire of people to achieve home ownership. fannie mae has been doing interesting surveys looking at the to dos among consumers. one of the things that's really remarkable, the attitudes among hispanics and african-americans, they don't break out asians separately are much more positive about seeking home ownership. whether about 1/3 of african-american and latinos say i plan to pie a home. 24% in the general population. the design is still there. when they ask what factors are important, it's much more important for latinos and for african-americans in terms of the wealth creation aspects of home ownership. the design to have a home and get access to a better home. and those things really do speak, i think, to the fact that yearning for home ownership has not been diminished by this cry sit. given their importance in the population, i think they are going to be an important driver of the housing market.

that said, the fannie mae survey also highlights the barriers. 3/4 of african-american and latino say it's going to be challenging to get a mortgage today. that's a significant barrier that we have to worry about. half say the ability to afford a home is a barrier, half say that credit history is a barrier. there's a lot of people that want to be homeowners, it's important to help them work to overcome the barriers. >> that's -- >> [applause] [applause] >> yes. thank you, dr. herbert, sounds like the group still has the grand desire to participate in the american dream. they are going to be tenacious and not going to give up. yes, there are barriers. you talked on the fact regarding the children. let me circle back to frank. let's talk about the d.r.e.a.m. act, what happened? >> well, it's a piece of

legislation that's been around for some time. it was always part of comprehensive immigration reform which kind of priority in 2006 and 2007, and it would have a passed had the larger bill passed. once comprehensive immigration reform got stalled in 2010, what really happened, the kids themselves, the young people eligible for the d.r.e.a.m. act really in the young civil rights pioneers demanded that organizations, leaders, and congress take up their cause. it looked like a long shot when they first started doing it. theyage gaited so successfully that harry reid promised to do it. he brought it up before the election in october. he then brought it up again after the election. and i have to say that it was -- i went from being a doubter that we had a real chance to being a believer we could get across the finish line. what happened is the young people themselves became the

story. i met so many incredible young people, caesar vargas from brooklyn. he speaks with a brooklyn accent, and he's a yankee fan. he came when he was 5. he went to sign up to defend his country, that's when he found out he didn't have papers. he's now going to law school. he figured out how to put himself in law school. he stills want to be a military j.a.g. lawyer, he said i'm undocumented and i'm unafraid. he and so many others stood up. alaina, a young woman from san antonio, texas who is a arch conservatives. her parents taught her the republicans are the way to go, and democrats are the communist. she was part of the jrotc, wants to join the military and be a

republican policy maker some day. came to the u.s. senate and appealed to the u.s. senators, republicans both from texas who voted no against the d.r.e.a.m. act. we came that close. you know, but i think we want a moral victory if not a legislative victory in that. these young people are never going to stop stop agitating for their own dream. they are diverse, incredible, transformational. i just think that sooner or later, whether it's by executive action or legislative action that these kids are going to take their rightful place at the american table. i have no doubt that given who these kids are and given who i think our country is, it's a matter of when and not if they are get the opportunity to i think they deserve. [applause] >> thank you. very good. [applause] [applause] >> secretary trasvina, you've

heard the advocate position, and with your experience and in the past, you being a champion of equality and anti-discrimination and all of those rolls, particularly in the housing sector, what are your views? give me your feedback on what you've heard from our panelist today. >> thank you, it's an honor to be your assistant secretary for housing and a rep, and they have been tremendous partners. we've heard the business case about immigration, and real estate. certainly the appeals to emotion, but appeals to justice and equality that, frank, so articulately for the last 20-25 years has expressed. comprehensive immigration is still a priority. it maybe more difficult. it's not if, it is when. everybody in the room has a job and a job right now. has a job with hud.

we have the obligation under the fair housing act, the anti-immigrant ordinances out there, strike up the core of the principal of the fair housing act. it stands for the ability to live where you want to live in the united states. and when we see anti-immigrant ordinances, now many that have been tempted to be passed. the one has gotten far is in arizona, s1070. our colleagues at the justice department said the state is going too far. it's getting into areas that the federal government is responsible for. the president and the congress decide who comes in and who does not come in. the president and the congress decide who's the united states citizen, not a mayor, not a governor. so the justice department stepped in on the larger issues of s1070. where we have stepped in is the guardians of the fair housing act, the enforcers of the fair housing act is to work with the state attorney general and partners there to say the provisions in is -- in s1070,

that talk about harboring immigrants. it could have meant a landlord might say is the sheriff going to come after me because i didn't check the immigration status, do i have to put on the release form? the answer is no. we work with the state to say that s1070 does not give any landlord the ability or the right to check immigration status. i've been to freemonth, nebraska, the city passed an ordinance that's held up and not being implemented. anybody that wants to rent in freemont, you don't go to the rental office, you first have to go to the police department to get a permit showing your immigration status. that again strikes the core of the fair housing. we are looking at the ordinances locally and statewide to make

sure the fair housing act principals continue to apply. it is our partnerships with you, when -- whether it's the town hall, work in california, you are the conscious of the industry. that's why it was started at the oldest minority trade association to fight discrimination. we look to you for your help. you are a trusted group within communities. it goes beyond the anti-immigrant ordinances. it gets into violent with hate crimes. a young man who was literally stomped to death by high school kids in shenandoah, pennsylvania. the justice department stepped in and filed federal hate crimes action against the perpetrators. also found out there was malfeasance in the local police department in covering up what had gone on. it is the criminal provisions of the fair housing act. it's the strike of the core of the fair housing act. the principal that you ought to be able to live where you want

to live. we have a job to do together. that job is right now. there will be back and forth in the congress and president on what comprehensive immigration reform will look like. we need your help today. we will be going out and starting a series of public workshops on discrimination, we have increased to 16 different languages, our materials on fair housing. we want you to be using them. we want your help in reaching people. there's also a direct economic impact on it. as many of you know, when there is a failed sale, based upon discrimination, not only is your client been a victim of a fair housing violation, but you have as well. you've lost a commission. so there's another interest and incentive for you to step forward and say this is a violation of the fair housing act. whether it was on national onlien, race discrimination, or other types of discrimination, we need your help in reaching out to communities across the country who may not feel like

they can contact the federal government office directly. certainly working through you as trusted institutions and leaders of your communities, we will be partners to make sure the discrimination is not something that's going to continue in the year 2011. >> all right. [applause] [applause] >> yes. >> thank you. [applause] [applause] why and i'll just ask a why question. one the threads that we've listen to in all of this, starting with congressman mike honda, when we spoke about the people that did the heavy lifting. the people that did the jobs and the work that nobody else wanted to do. but then he heard from dr. herbert of a new generation of immigrant work force. one that is skilled. those that are tradesman, those that can build a house, better than any other. those that are our very crafty with their hands. so it's not all about labor. let's talk about labor and what

happens in terms of the immigration question and the need as the demographics keep going the way they are, who's going to do that? any of you that would like to answer on that. frank? >> yeah, i'll take a shot. it's harder to talk about this now, of course, because the secession has made jobs so scarce, and anxiety so high that it -- right now, in fact, the illegal immigration is down to a net zero because folks coming and it's very responsive to labor market conditions and people would rather be poor at home than be poor in jobless in the united states. so -- but the longer trends are this. that -- the reason that immigration isn't a set pie in which you take one job away from an american if an immigrant takes one is that over time the

american economy has been growing. and what happens is that workers are complimenting, rather than substitutes for the most part. there's a reason why in our immigration system, there's a demand at the highly educated end. particularly in technology and sciences. and there's been a demand at the low end in terms of agriculture and, you know, dirty and dangerous jobs as we call them. it's because most americans who grow up have expectations that they are not going to take the low status jobs and unfortunately, our education system isn't producing enough phds in math and physics and the sciences in order to fill those jobs. there's a demand for immigrants to come in and compliment the highly productive and educated american work force. that's why over time immigration grows the pie. in fact, it's very clear that in cities where you've -- where

they have attracted immigrants grow faster than cities that haven't. that's the reason why. i think the story of america is that people have come from all corners of the earth with a desire to work hard and dream called the american dream. and for the most part, there's rough spots, of course, for the most part as long as there's equity in the system, which has been a fairly recent phenomenon in america in the last generation, we'll still need to perfect the equity. we at least have standards this we need to now live true to. people's hard work is being rewarded in a way that's extraordinary. so i think, you know, america -- the story of immigrant labor is not isolated. the story of immigrant labor is the story of american success. i'm confident as the american economy rebounds that it'll be american employees and american workers that are driving their recovery, but that as the economy grows again, it will be a reignited demand for immigrant workers to compliment.

>> that's were housing and fair housing are so important. as the action that mayors and city councils can take in the area of immigrant integration. the cities like frank mentioned, indianapolis and others that have worked to integrate the immigrants are better off than those fight them. and it is our job in the housing area to make sure that communities are welcome and that the services are there. the supreme court in 2006 made it more difficult for schools to use race to change admissions -- admissions patterns at particular schools. we have high level of segregation, particularly among latino students today. when school districts hands are tied, then it means that the housing officials, housing people need to make sure that communities are enter -- are integrated. as we work at hud and making sure that cities and towns and counties are using the dollars. they are using their dollars in

ways that reflect the needs of the community. in the buildings and the housing it is being built. it's being built and going to last for the next 30 or 40 years. we have to be making decisions today for the america in the year 2040 and the year 2050 which will look very different than it does today. >> i would just add to what frank is saying. it is remarkable at this point, we've had the pause in foreign immigration which has been over the last three or four decades, has been continuous. it's very responsive to the economic conditions. and particularly in the end, because the immigration -- the foreign-born household road has stopped because the jobs aren't there. we have an over hang that we need increased demand to work off. we're going to work through the housing problem. we had to get the economy growing. part of the solution is the growth in households that's going to come. so they are part of the solution to the housing problem. the joint center does

projections on the demand over a ten year period using demographic trends. what's going to be the immigration? the census has always been cautious, it's always been well below the actual level. they finally got religion and realized we need to have a realistic projection. for 1.4, or 1.5 immigrants. we are not at that level. what extent is the world economy and political context changing. whether or not those immigrationing levels are going to come back. the difference for the housing market is substantial. our projections at the levels of immigration are 1.8 housing units a year, once we get back in equilibrium, it's a substantial hit in our productive capacity. and it's going to take us that much longer to work off the over hang that we have. >> thank you, doctor. we are going to open it up and we have a the bit of time left

for questions. two microphones. one on each side. if you'd like to pose a question, stand up to the mike. we'll start out with tino. >> how are you? thank you for being here. ronald reagan passed successfully a law that allowed three million folks to be admit ted. and it was sold that we would solve the issue. here we are, 2010, and the issue is front and center. and even larger. what have we learned from that experience? so that we can promise to do it right the second time? >> great question. we'll work on that first. >> yeah. >> it was his fault. >> 25 years ago. and i think it is high time that we -- when we talk about comprehensive immigration reform, you know, the opponents of the -- and who decry this as amnesty. we did if in '86.

we're never going to do it again. the reality is every decade of the 1900s, we've had different programs to legalize the status of individuals who came here illegally, or didn't have authorization for a while. so it is no embarrassment that we are going back to the eve -- back to the '86 and trying to fix it. it does require looking at the unauthorized, labor needs, family situation. right now from whatever perspective that you look at immigration policy and law, it doesn't reflect the national need. in order to do that, in order to do it all at once, every time congress has passed, they focused on one or the other and not both. it is a difficult -- it is a difficult policy to change all at once. but i think those who have looked at it the most closely realize that everything has to be done together. and that if you do -- if you leave out the part about, well,

people who are here may look like they are here as immigrants, or may look as though they are here illegally, you are going to have heavy -- if you don't have heavy civil rights part of it, we will have problems. if we don't have the issue of looking at future labor and work force, we're going to have a problem. all of it has to be done together. >> right. that's what we've learned. if you are going to do more at the border, we have done most of what we need to do at the border. we don't have yet a deflective employer sanction system that is both sensitive to civil rights and effective to crack down. on '86 it was a paper-based system. easy to get around. in the age of technology, this is something that we can figure out. the other thing, we gave legal status to half of the population which sewed the seeds for a

growing population that got locked into the united states. we need to actually deal with all of the folks that meet the criteria so we deal with it once and for all. we need a modern modernized immn system. if you want to come to mexico to take a job at houston, instead of risking your life, there's a line to get into and you'll be able to come in on an airplane with labor rights. that's the difference that we need. all of that is what comprehensive immigration reform will do. solve it, make it a small irritant, rather than a big problem. >> thank you, frank. >> second question. [inaudible question] >> like the congresswoman said. [inaudible question]

>> because i remember at one point we were illegal status. i remember how happy my mom was when she was able to obtain a legal permit for myself at age 7. struggling knowing it was only work permit. any time that work permit is not renewed, it was illegal and could be deported. growing up with the fear, but at the same time with a vision and wanted to get an education. because that's what i desire knowing i can do something better and improve the community. once i got into high school, knowing that i could not get the grants, i couldn't get the scholarships, because i didn't have a residency. saying to myself, how am i going to pay? that's how i got into real estate. i was able to work at age 19 with the real estate, and pay for my education, get my bachelor's degree. getting that, i've come this

far. the responsibility that's on me that i understand, i understand the suffering of the students and what they go through. because it was my struggle. and our community and starving the latino community. last year they decided to recognize me of being a 30 realtor under the age of 30. i take that, at the same time, how am i going to help improve? thank you for the policy and the work. i'm passionate about housing and immigration. i lived through it. i understand it. i'm here to heard on and being on the local board. i want to do something. i want to help the students and i want to help the families that are improving the communities. yes, the latino immigration does help. it is improving the communities. where other people from other races do not want to live because the houses are very old. you have your latinos that come in, the trade workers. now we have brand new houses and the community has changed within the last ten years. it's amazing.

the price values, the taxes, the schools we are getting new schools. i have seen what immigration does in the latino community does, specializing it. i'm grateful for god to giving me the opportunity, and grateful for you guys and doing the work that you do. >> thank you. [applause] [applause] >> and next year we'll have you join our panel. how's that? i have a question over here. henry wade. >> good morning. thank you very much, gentleman. i'm from arizona, we made sure we had our passports before we left. [laughter] >> to make sure we can get back in. those that argue the case about immigration, and immigration reform, someone made the community that the issues that affected african-american was more of an economic than immigration. i contest this is an economic issue as well. also when we have that discussion about the lack of the disparity between the groups that it's always comes up. for instance, in arizona,

there's the comment that we spend $30 billion a year in educating, medicaiding, and supporting the illegal as they call illegal immigrants in our state. and so i think we need to continue to talk to that. plus demystify the issue of amnesty. the argument that amnesty is a bag thing is just like saying in this day and age is like bankruptcy is a bad thing. at one time, perhaps, you would have one or two families in the communities that might go through bankruptcy and foreclosures and whisper about it. now look at our communities and you have hundreds and thousands of people. what efforts are under way on any of your parts and mr. secretary, that i want to talk to you later and come out to phoenix if you don't mind. what issues and efforts are under way to demystify. if amnesty is an instrument to help support the immigration reform, let's talk more about the fact it's not a bad thing, but something that can be useful. >> yeah, it's a great question, by the way.

and the word amnesty is used to block discussion. it's one of those words that politicians use to say let's not talk about it anymore. what opponents of comprehensive immigration reform mean no amnesty, anything short of mass deportation is unacceptable. when you ask the american people, are you in favor? 20% say yes, 80% say grow up. get real. so, i think, and honestly we do a lot of public opinion research. this amnesty charge, it works on politicians. particularly republican politicians that are afraid of primary. we don't call it amnesty. ronald reagan did sign an amnesty. it was a direct path. what we're talking about is a conditional status for many years. you got to meet all kinds of criteria in terms of taxes and

behavior and work record, et cetera, in order to qualify. and, you know, people will be held accountable to be paid in fines and have to meet the criteria. but it really comes down to is the -- is illegal entry a major crime or is it a minor violation? people are breaking in to steal, they are breaking in to work. >> that's true. yeah. [applause] [applause] >> and on the question of public services, i'm sensitive to the state and local governments that say there are real costs. but again, when comprehensive immigration reform gets passed, and dishonest employs have to get in the system and pay their fair taxes. workers have to pay their fair share. the tax revenues will go up tremendously. if you are you are -- if you wat fairness for american workers and taxpayers and fairness for

honest american employers, comprehensive immigration reform is the deal. that is going to be the solution. people like to talk about the problems and they don't like to talk about the solution. we want to talk about the solution and the more we do, i think we'll get more support and get across the finish line in the next few year. >> and the key is that immigration reform is in the national interest. maybe in the interest of the individual immigrants, and their families, and some of the businesses. but it is also in the national interest. and that i think is the important framework to present this. i want to follow up on something that congressman honda talked about earlier. that is the chinese exclusion act. there's an issue coming up in the arizona legislature about birthright citizenship. the principal that now people are saying there's a loophole in the constitution or supreme court got it wrong. 1898, because it brings together the ancestors of everybody in

this room and beyond. in 1870, he was a young man born in san francisco. he went on a trip to china. 1882, there was a chinese exclusion act. he comes back in the 1890s after a short trip. he comes back to san francisco and the port officials, federal officials say you can't come in. he says i'm not coming in, i'm coming back. home, the thing that we care about so much here. they said chinese exclusion act. he said i'm born here. i'm an united states citizen. he had to go all the way to the united states supreme court. in 1898, the supreme court looked at the 14th amendment that said all persons born and nationalized in the united states are united states citizens. not only did they look at the 14th amendment and the reasons why it was adopted as opposed to the amendment, they went all the way back to 1607 in angelo-american law and societies have different ways in deciding who belongs in the

family of that country. either by blood or by where you are born. and it is in the national interest to say that we have people here whom they are certain when they are born that they are part of the country. and people who are stateless. also the supreme court carefully examined the 14th amendment that said there are only a couple of exceptions. if our child of a soldier, and any soldier who's occupying the united states, not very many of those. they are excluded. children of ambassadors, because we consider ambassadors -- they are the representatives of foreign country. and very narrow exceptions at that time dealing with native american tribes. other than that, everybody who was born here is a citizen. it goes back to scottish law in 1607 and 1608. when those who say today, it's a loophole. the supreme court didn't consider it. we have a principal and a tradition over 400 years of this principal birthright citizen.

but yet that is what is at stake. when i was at the justice department ten years ago, we had a celebration of the centennial in san francisco chinatown. at that time, people said that's great. what real sense is -- relevance is it today? some people want to get rid of it. at that time, no. it is realistic debate. it's important for everyone in the room to know about the principals of birthright citizen, it's long history and tradition in this country, it's going to be one of the defining issues moving forward on the immigration issue. >> thank you, secretary. just based on the number of questions and the number of participates, i can understand that we are all very passionate and feel very strongly about the immigration issue. we have maybe a couple more questions. somebody, no, one. one more right over there. >> okay. thank you very much. i'm new to immigration, the issue on policy. and i never knew that it ran as

deep in me as it does until i came here and listened to you panelists. and i'm thankful to nehrep and nareb for putting it on. you gave me a little, secretary, prior to say the 1920s, did everybody come into america legally? i'm just -- you know, and those people who got -- who came here may have been able to blend in at the time. people of color have a more difficult time of blending in. and you have issues of wanted to

put them out. i agree with the gentleman that mentioned this is an economic issue. this is more economic issue of people who have privileged status who want to keep their privileged status, and don't want to level the playing field so other people who come into this country can make a contribution and build it as well. as the people who built it in the 1800s, and the early 1900s, who came from european and eastern european countries who made a tremendous contribution and all of them, i don't think they came in legally. everybody didn't come through ellis island. so if that is true, why doesn't it come as an economic issue and bring up the issues of people participating and being documented and having their taxes taken?

the employers getting cheap labor, and not being accountable for it. they are taking the profit. it's not going to the state or federal government. >> train, -- frank, do you want to take that one? >>[applause] >> you say you didn't know that. that was brilliant. a little bit of history. it used to be that the united states -- if you showed up at ellis island, you would get in unless you are crazy or sick; right? and let's just remember, i'm a irish and italian ancestry. when the irish first showed up, they were treated at first the way african-americans were treated. then they became honorary whites. [applause]

[applause] >> then the italians and the jews and polish came. they were those sorted ethnics. in fact, the 1920s, they passed legislation for the first time that really restricted immigration. they wanted to keep out central and eastern europeans; right? that's when the restrictionist, in fact, it was so intense that with the advent of world war ii, both filled with jews escaping europe came to the united states seeking safe haven. they were turned back. that's how isolationist we were in that period. but, you know, white ethnics became white. right? so now there is a racial aspect to this debate. it's asians and latinos and caribbeans and africans and people from the middle east. and they are considered the new others by the majority. not all, but people who were really scared of what's happening.

and so, yes, it is an economic issue. it has a cultural element to it. it has a security element. it's a complicated issue. we sometimes talk about the three dimensional chest of immigration. fundamentally, i think it's about who we are as a country. whether it's african-americans who have struggled for justice, asians who have been considered foreigners by the way they look, but have struggled so hard to make it into the mainstream. latinos whether the border crossed them, or they crossed the border. [applause] [applause] >> about time you got that one. the fact is that the united states, you know, the opponents of immigration and the opponents of people of color like to talk about us and them. us versus them. and what that debate is about is whether we're going to live true to the great american tradition where the themes become us and the us become stronger as a result.

[applause] >> right? [applause] [applause] >> so, you don't need to be an expert on immigration policy to understand it the way that you do. which is that this is about whether we are going to live true to the idea of out of many one, or we are going to somehow say we only meant white people when we talked about out of many are one. that's not the america that we know and love. i think that tremendous ideal will win out over time. >> ladies and gentlemen, dr. chris herbert, frank sharry, and secretary john trasvina. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. >> tomorrow on "washington journal."

>> sunday on news maker, house committee chairman harold rogers talks about the debate on spending and the expected budget battles following the passage to fund the government until march 18th. at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> over 1,000 middle and high school students entered this year student documentary

competition. the theme, washington, d.c. through my lens. c-span will announce the 75 winners wednesday morning during the "washington journal" and stream the videos at studentcam.org. >> now a briefing with the crew of the state shuttle discovery and space station. discovery is on it's final mission, and assisting crew members with daily task aboard the space station. this is about a half an hour. >> we hear you loud and clear. welcome aboard the international space station, rob. >> good to be with you, scott, and crew. we'll start off with robert proman. >> question for demander steve lindsay, and his discovery crew makes. outside of times like the media

and myself asked about it being the last mission, how prevalent has the finality of the flight been during the mission? has there been times where the history and the legacy of the vehicle has struck you? >> well, i'd say that's a difficult question. we've been very busy during our mission as our shuttle missions are and space station missions. mostly we spent 95% of our time to 99% on just doing the work and getting the work done. when you are busy like that, you are focusing on doing the task, doing it correctly, get everything done, and don't miss anything. however, there are times i know personally when i have been reflected about it being the last mission and what a wonderful vehicle it is, and probably coming up and docking and when you look at the windows, look right into discovery and see the wings and see discovery written on the wings. times like that, i really reflect about what a great

vehicle it's been. 39 missions, one year on or bit, and think about all of the things that that vehicle has done. it's just really inspiring to me, and kind of bittersweet and sad knowing when we land that will be it for this vehicle. >> thank you. to follow up on that, a question for steve bowen and al drew. they say a picture is worth 1,000 words. through your helmet cam, we got to see when you took a glance at discovery during your space walk. would you -- one or both of you describe what it was like to describe what it was like to see discovery there and reflect on it's pass 365 days in space? >> captured repeat of what steve said. just to our discoverying up

close and personal, it's a magnificent ship, wonderful and completely capable vehicle. to be out there working on and around or near it is just a privilege to be part of the legacy of discovery. it seemed like a blessing. >> question for al drew. what was the most difficult and the most exciting moment during your evas? >> that's easy there. they were both the same. when i first exited the air walk on my first eva, we were over top. it looked like it was south america at the amazon basin. just beautiful. the clouds, greenery, i had to remind myself i had work to do and couldn't just take in the scenery. it was exciting and difficult to tear my eyes away and focus on

getting things ready for the task ahead. >> question for paul. you accomplished about half of your mission, who was your most challenging and did you have any surprises and what was your most exciting moment so far? >> well, it's been pleasure so far here. we have spent two months, expedition 26. i think the most challenging time here is not -- there's not really a time. i mean the challenges when i look at a procedure for the first time and it looked very complex. i try to understand and interpret it, try to do it without making mistakes. sometimes i do. i think those for me are the most challenging times. but as usual, familiarity of repeating things and things get familiar, and we get to do it with no problems, and, of course, we always have a ground control mission control helping

us and keeping us out of troubles. >> this is jill polk, representing the mariner in massachusetts. the question for the east coast, steve, what has been the most challenging part and the most rewarding part of your unexpected shuttle flight? >> i think the most challenging part was trying to get up to speed to understand the evas, and then even more so trying to get up to speed with everything else that goes on on a shuttle flight and where they task would be and what they were, and how familiar i was with them, and how much more training. that was the most difficult part of it. the best part really was, you know, getting to work with the crew. it's four of my classmates from 2000, and commander steve lindsey, that's been great. having a great crew. being able to spend time and get

here with the iss crew, it's been the best part of it. >> thanks for the good words, stevo. now a question for the west coast steve and eric boe. what could you share with newspaper readers in your hometown? >> we're consulting. hang on. >> i think the favorite -- our favorite steve bowen story for this mission so far -- and i'm sure there are more to come -- when steve was taking the pump module off of a transporter on the trust segment, eva and mike barratt and scott kelly for driving him. about the time they released the pump module, which about 700 pounds, for steve to take in his arm so they could fly him over

to where it belonged, the entire space station robotic arm crashes. which means he was stuck there holding this payload for not -- for what seems like a really long time for him. but actually the crew did a great job reconfiguring to alternate station to get it alive. steve was stuck there for 30-35 minutes holding the pump module lose. it gave us an opportunity to joke with him and kind of make fun of him while he was out there stuck with nowhere to go. >> i just wanted to add one story for steve. that's just from today. we're outfitting the pmm, you know, the giant module the discovery crew brought to us. one the steps in that is to install some brackets. there are six bolts on every

bracket. there's only one pool on the space station here that can do it. it's a tiny work space. and steve has been in there all morning long doing every one of the bolts. i think there are 60. i think he finished. he works in big spaces, small spaces, and always gets stuff done. >> one more. what's great about this is steve flew with me on sts126. just like we were talking about, we're working to together, and t was a pleasure to watch him get to work just like the last flight. >> mark for aviation vehicle. -- aviation week. i have a couple of questions. the first is for scott kelly. can you tell the extra time that discovery is spending at the space station benefits the station ops the most? >> well, in the original plan,

they were not going to have much involvement in getting pmm basically emptied out of a lot of the hardware that needs to be disposed of on htv. when they were going to leave, we were going to really be in a time crunch to get all of this, you know, all of these metal structures and foam and stuff that we wanted to dispose of in htv. htv has to leave at a certain time. having the extension, gives us two extra days of six people. which is a lot of crew time to get all of that stuff, or some of it done before they leave. and then it kind of, you know, it just helps maximize our time post undocking for things like science and, you know, other activities that we have to perform on board the space station on a daily basis. >> thanks. and could someone explain where express rack eight ends up at

the end of this process? and it's my understanding that's the last of the express racks. if anybody wants to comment on the significance of that for science activities, that'd be great. thank you. >> well, express rack eight is right next to steve bowen here, right to my left. we moved that this morning. yes, it is the last express rack. i'm not familiar with what kind of science express rack 8 is going to be performing. right now it has a merlin, which is a small refrigerator, glacier, another refrigerators, that keep human science samples and i think cady might have a better idea. i'll pass the mike to her. >> i was going to say what's great is it's not specific. it's very modular, it's the size of refrigerator and has draws

that are interchangeable that can contain storage or experiments that need power or cooling. now we have the big in place through discovery, smaller locker-size things can come up. we can have payload after payload in this facility, because everything is provided in the express rack. it's excited to have another on board and gives us locations for small experiments. >> dennis, a question for steve lindsey, or eric boe. when discovery does the fly around, can you speak to the significance of doing the maneuver with discovery, and seeing the space station completed that's been so instrumental in it's construction? thank you. >> we've been talking about the long history of the space shuttle. and it's privilege to get the opportunity to undock on the separation station.

you know, the international space station has every part of the representatives with the different modules on board. we have atv, from the european space agency, and the htv, from the japanese. : maybe you could talk a little bit in terms of people can understand how large it is and how much space you have to move around in.

>> just to start off this space station here now is the largest pressurized volume in space in history. it's a huge. i mean i use the word my son uses all the time which is ginormous. we have 12 people and if we spread ourselves out you can spread across this vehicle and not see another person. it's that big. volume wise, equivalent to the interior of the 747 or a little bit bigger and it's just really impressive to know that as a volume and a total volume workspace we can use every single one of the walls in every single one of the modules in a way that we just can't do on the ground and so it makes for a wonderful resource for science and living and just being a pure floating around.

it's great. >> chris baltimore the news reuters agency. i have a question about garbage. how much of trash does it generate? where do you put it and do you recycle? >> we do recycle certain things. we recycle our water and turn it into -- our urin and turn it into water because disposing of that is -- disposing of any trash is quite a challenge. right now, believe it or not, we don't have a whole lot of what is called, in trash on board which is basically the garbage we generate from our food and our clothing and that's because we recently had to progress vehicles depart that are our colleagues were very efficient in getting them loaded with we

have probably about 11 or 12 very large garbage bags like outdoor kind of garbage bags filled with trash, and we were able to get rid of those and generally the trash stays in a certain area of the notes as well as a certain area in the russian segment where some trash stays and stays there until we can dispose of it and we can dispose of it probably on average any two to three months when we have a vehicle that departs and generally berms up in the atmosphere. >> discovery this is houston atr and that concludes the questions. please stand by for a voice check from the kennedy epo. >> this is kfcto. how do you hear me? >> we have you loud and clear.

welcome the international space station. >> hello. this is marcia, the associated press that the question for katie coleman. there's great interest of we get to the president of the united states and i'm wondering where the robot unveiling be moving up the interest and are excited are you to work with the robot? >> we've all been voting to move up getting the amount of the box and we are all pretty sure we hear scratching from the inside. there's a very elaborate choreography of all the things that have to come out and get stowed in different places and folks on the ground are working hard at that and we are making sure we are able to bring it up before the discovery leaves. i'm really not sure. as we bring the robot into space when of the reasons to do that is to understand how to work with them and just the mechanics of how they work and how that is affected.

we want to learn those lessons on the inside of the space station before we send them out to the outside the space station or to other planets which we need to be able to do in terms of exploring the human presence and robotic presence. it will take both of those to get us for the route into the universe and it is a first step. >> it's been a real will win for you the past month. i'm wondering are you pinching yourself that you are even in space on this mission and have a chance to go spacewalking and how are you going to make when you get back on earth? [laughter] >> i am pinching myself and there's no possible way i could make it up. tama is doing an incredible job putting this together. it's the only reason we were so successful outside. he really did a fantastic job. so, if there's anything i can do for him i'm willing to discuss it.

>> cbs news. i have a question for alexander and scott kelley. first for alexander, were you looking forward to the fly around, were you disappointed that god called off? and for scott kelley, how do you balance the risk versus the benefit of a picture like that verse is everything that goes into the undocking and flying around? thanks. >> we have no decision for the subornation so i think it would be a unique picture of the international space station or the international partners. but unfortunately we don't do this.

>> i think the value of those pictures are clear there is a value to it, but it's kind of hard to measure it it's very subjective in my opinion. this is something you can quantify although we never got far enough along in the process for me to actually see the hazard analysis associated with doing the fly around there are advantages to doing it and disadvantages to doing it. both programs way it goes and came up with the decision not to do it and i'm not familiar with of the deals exactly how we can to the decision but as a crew, we support the decisions that are made by the leadership. >> dr. barrett, a wonder if you could describe as you begin your reentry and feeling the effect of the atmosphere for the first

time and in a couple of weeks, what are you guys going to be feeling physically? what keeps the two types of things are your body is going to be experiencing and how different do you think that is when to be from the return? >> that's a great question to be the difference between this and the return is that that one can after about six and a half months appear so i had that much time to condition in the weightless environment and to train hard with my counter majors before us with a 13 or 14 the flight a couple of weeks in the -- you don't decondition quite that much but he also went on the top of your gain for the countermeasures. so i think i will probably look very much like the typical people that we see coming down three we're seated right compared to the seuz so the gravity is pulling the plug out of our head rather than going to the trust which is different we orientation. what for, the delude is quite a bit gentler to read the shuttle

fares may be about 1.2 for several minutes 15 plus minutes rather than picking up to four and a half and then sometimes even five for a few seconds. but i can tell you that 1.2 will feel like three or so after we've been up here for quite awhile, but they are going to keep the blood flowing to our heads and we have to get our last caller volume up again and for that part people do fairly well, and you will see in the film but hopefully you will see six happy people walking around under the discovery after landing. >> the discovery this is the atf. that concludes questions from kfc. please stand by for a voice check from esa. >> this is esa in rome. how do you hear us?

>> we have you loud and clear. welcome aboard the space station. >> thank you to kelly for having us and this event. the question for the commander kelly. how is vehicles and components from all the programs? >> welcome i think it's one of the great things about this program. its international program. it shows how countries that cooperate can do great things in building a space station such as the international space station. it's probably one of the most significant engineering achievements that people have achieved, and we've done that with this international partnership that i think is the highlight of the program.

>> question. >> from the news agency, you are now migrating the lunar module and i telling and room on the international space station. so were the first operations were going to happen on its interior? >> good afternoon. we are working very hard inside the module because it came in flight configuration. so everything is fastened in a way to secure it for the launch, so we are moving the packing materials so that we can stow it in the japanese module that is going to be leaving soon. so, we are using all the astronauts including the discovery crew that are staying here another couple days to help us with that.

>> good evening to the crew. i'm from the newspaper. in less than two weeks on march march 17th 150 years of the unity of italy so how do you plan on qassam gerberding aboard the space station on an event that is so important for the nation? >> surely this is a very important holiday for our country. i'm a little limited in being able to celebrate. i have brought a little flag that i will be able to fly on that day from an itel and product. italy from the year is a beautiful view and i have tried

to have everyone partake by sending pictures, and it's a country that stands out from the mediterranean, both during the day and at night. it's easy to see how beautiful it is from the geographical and natural point of view, and we have to keep it in that way. >> good day to everyone. francesca. >> you see the sun setting and rising every 90 minutes. so you have 45 minutes of flight and 45 minutes of daytime view. do you realize that? and how do you manage to keep the time? >> we are here inside the space station. we have some ports that are not always open because most time they have to stay closed because we are maneuvering outside. we live our days based on the

clock and the time that is given to us which is fixed on the time of london mission control centers work to give us some sort of standard work hours so we usually work from eight a.m. to 8 p.m. with about an hour break for lunch and in this day we kind of fix our day. when we go to the cibula it's a little strange because we are looking outside and it's daytime or light, depending on where you are and what time, you're a little disoriented from the coming and going of the sunset and sunrise but it's extremely beautiful to see the world turning around you within the time of one day. >> hi, paulo. >> amounted to know if you have touched the moon that the apollo

11 astronauts have brought back which is now aboard iss. >> surely i wouldn't miss it. it's on the cibula and this move rock -- moonrock has also been on top of everest with scott said it has been all over the place. i touched it and seen it. it's very interesting. it's simulating to know that rock has been on such a tour and it's with us today but also shows we need to continue our exploration and come back to the moon and go to mars. this will surely be our goal in the future. >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: from sky24. some people are going to be leaving soon for what is going to be the tourism trip, would

you think about that and do you think the dream coincides with some of your dreams? >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: i'm convinced space tourism will be one of the front years that will be opening in space. when i got here in the first place when we had a little more time to get used to the absence of gravity and i had a little more time to get used to it, i've really thought that it's really a shame that so many people on earth cannot see this. so surely, in the future this will change, and will be a pleasure to have the opportunity for everyone to come up here, spend some time here and be able to see earth and experience the essence of gravity. this is surely something that will happen in the future, and i hope that it will happen sooner rather than later. >> [speaking in native tongue]

>> translator: so earth scene from up there is beautiful, but a lot of things are happening on earth that are changing. in north africa, for the example, there are very important changes. how -- how do you perceive these changes up there? >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: we are a little bit isolated up here. we do receive news. we have pieces of newscasts that we receive. i read some newspapers and a little bit of time that i have. i read them. it's interesting to understand how the world keeps going. from up here, it looks still, but it's still going. sometimes i look down when we fly over north africa and i try to see if i can see something but i don't see anything. i don't see anyone. i would like to be able to see people down there and what is going on but i don't see it. i do know, and we all know that

things are happening and this is history continuing on, and we are certainly with all of those down there who are trying to have a better life and a better future. >> and again, i wanted to ask you are for less more than halfway through the mission. what do you expect at this point and are you missing earth at this point? >> [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: yes to get my halfway point was passed a few days ago, and i'm beginning to not feel like i just got here, so i don't have to ask scott where things are and questions about this or that procedure. i feel like -- i'm feeling a little bit more at home now, not such a guest anymore. i also like working.

i find for enjoyment and working, because initially i was a little afraid of what i was doing. i didn't want to create some disaster, and now i'm a little more comfortable. but i expect this is going to get even better, and i expect i'm going to have a little more time to enjoy the view from the outside and the work inside. for the time being, i'm not missing earth. i do talk to my wife and my daughter, who is growing at. we talk almost every day and we have conferences every couple of weeks. i would love to see them and hug them and go out with them, but it's not -- but it's not that feeling of missing the that is destroying me. it's fine. jokingly, a week ago i sent a

message asking if they would send me a pizza, actually may be the one thing that i miss is a good healthy pizza. >> discovery, this is houston atr and that concludes the event. thank you.

last week the house passed

h.r. one, a republican spending bill with proposed cuts to an estimated $61 billion from current year spending for september. now, senate majority leader harry reid plays out how the senate will proceed next week on federal spending. this is about 40 minutes.at the >> i ask the call be terminatedk >> without objection. hav >> mr. president, thank you very much. i have atatement longer statemef will give after we finish this b yesterday afternoon we met that year and the vice president's office it was a very fine meeti. meeting.iden vice president biden was there.n my friend the republican leader, the speaker and majority, they majority, minority leader.it's it's hard for me to get thisncei turned down since this change in the house leadership. anyway, mcconnell, reid, boehner and pelosi were there with vicen

president by then and they spent about an hour there and the arrangement was we would have a vote on h.r. one from sometime r this next week and a vote on thv atll we just played down whichan is our alternative as to what we think should be done with ther., economy. now i knowthat - mr. president t our bill because the way we havu to do things not here is a long bill and i assure the minority s wants toom spend some time lookr at that but we will even do it with an agreement or with my filing different procedural motions to the point next week a otere we will vote on h.r. one v which we want to do and we wanto democrats want to do and vote om the bill. >> what is the number of the th a bill we have at the desk

any way, it's been here for a while.ocra it's the democratic alternativee senator inouye has laid down. t mr. president,he we really and y confident the speaker feels thel same way, the thing we should do is vote on h.r. one, which we f had calls for voroting on that r more than a week now i've had pe statements saying why doesn't he said that a voteei on h.r. one? and that's what we are doing. dg we will either do that from the consent agreement from my friend, the republican leader, or we will do it through the mot procedural motion later today. spinet the amendment to that is the number 149 and that senator inouye's kutz of some $51 billion on what thehe president's and to move the process forward

i think this is the place toe so start and we have some get confidence and t we will get soe votes on our bill that will movd this matter forward. but regardless, if h.r. one whot doesn't pass and it won't pass and ours hasn't passed we atleaw least know where we stand,do thd mr. president because this moves the ball down the road littl fod their.al the speaker said that wouldlow a allow the negotiations to start and i think i'm paraphrasing but that is about exactly what he said.hat that is what all was in the rooa decided to do yesterday. to so today i see there were two votes for tuesday afternoon. one vote on passing h.r. one aso a duty to it came up fromm the d, aft house and after that we wouldale move for not passing the alternative which is the trend a in a way has drafted in this nu. what it would seem to be a fairo

constitution to move forward.ca as i said, i know my friend the republican leader has a scheduling problem and i at. understand that. i would like to come in earlier, today and so was he that we were not able to do that. tha i will give a full and morestatn minutes. , what , what mr. president, is i would ask of consent that upon disposition oe s. 23, which is the patent bille the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number 1441 defense appropriation continuing resolution fiscal- year 2011 that senator reid beae recognized of the substitute amendment.desk. equally divided between the twof leaders with the designees prior to the vote on relation to the e substitute amendment. upon the disposition of the sestak to the amendment -- let a me read that again,t. mr. president.

sorry about that.f four hours of debate equally e two divided between the leaders or s their designees and prior to tho vote in the relation to thesubse substitute amendment upon the do disposition of the substitute procd tot said proceed to the vote on passage of h. ar. one as amended, if intervening action doherty and b lotion or amendments be in order to substitute amendment ot the bill prior to a votestitutef substitute amendment on the bilo to the threshold and that h.r. one as amended if amended does doesn't achieve from the vote we return to the calendar. >> is there dhaka junction? >> reserving the right to object and for the short term i am shot going to object for today. we received this amendment at at 11:45 and we need to have a chance over the weekend to take a look at what our friends havet offered here, and it could wellt be that by monday we will conclude this proposal that thet majority leader has leaked outoo as the best way to go forward.vr

we will continue to talk about that over the weekend. today but, for today.mr. reid >> the objection is heard. >> mr. president i asked that upon as 23 the patent bill the senate proceed to h.r. one, the defense appropriation long-termn resolution from fiscal year 2011.ason, i obj >> is their objection?ion is hea >> the objection is heard. t >> i move to proceed to come under 14 h.r. one >> the clerk will report. >> motion to proceed to comen ar under 14 h.r. one to make a parisian for the department of s defense and other departments and agencies that the for government, the fiscal year

ending september 30, 2011 fors. purposes.ion that's >> mr. president, i have ask ani cloture motion at the desk andcr ask the clerk report that.the pe >> the clerk will report. >> cloture motion. senators and according to the provision rule 22, of the standing wills and the senator bayh move to bring to a close the debate on the motion tonumb proceed to come under number 14o each for one and an act to makee appropriatfeions for the dickern of defense and that the department and agency that detpt government the fiscal year in sg the september 30th, 2011 signed by 17 senators as sen fatolorlo. reid of nevada, inouye, nelson of florida, white a package coming udall off new mexico, hagan, menendez, casey, shaheen, klobuchar, carvin, boxer, franken, feinstein and bingaman.en, >> mr. president, i ask unanimous consent of the quoruma under the rule 20 to be waived. >> i now withdraw my motion to

mrreid: proceed. de the senator has that right.ri >> mr. president, when an american family sits in the tabe kitchen at the table and sorts s through their finances as they , often do, partisan politics pols don't fit into the equation. fas when the families we represent calculate their own budgets, they have the cost of gas and groceries, tuition in some r instances and other necessitiest they care more t about the bottm lines and the news headlines. da when a family dispute recountsng the dwindling number of weeks before its the unemploymentks insurance runs out, the familynt doesn't have time to keep track of which side scored the most political points during anyho given week. that's because when you have tol make the tough decisions to go into any budget, those decisions have to be practical, not political. the have to be realistic, not ideological. ha often tell ourselves and ourt colleagues that wet we should .

responsible as the americanas people. as their representatives, we etsolutely must be sympatheticyh to the challenges outside of this chamber. and we need to come quickly to a resolution and benefits them before we worry w about whether. benefits us. must as careful as we must be, not tt waste the american people's money, we must be just as to mindful not to waste their time, igrettably though, the budget debate has turned into a ercise. political exercise. and i'm sorry to say, muchore. mr. president, not much more.ths that's counterproductive.to b we neeed to a sbe as serious as. challenge before us.ore con i am much more concerned with actually keeping our country running and then investing smart smartly in the future.ou futur i am in this political game thaw we see. when we began the morning, theie american people want to send their children to a good school, and then go to a good job.dent, and, mr. president, now they are saying a job.

they won their families to come home to a safe neighborhood at night, they want to go to sleepe knowing our country is safe from those who want to do less harm.o they don't care about who gets o credit. they don't care who felt about how best to do it, they just want us to do it. the time really now is for for political posturing should be so over.e we set up a procedure agreed onp in the vice president's officeed to get this h.r. one out of the way.everyonows it's everyone knows it is not going y to pass. it's a very, very difficult, that piece of legislation. get d so get rid of that, we will do what we feel is responsible ands cutpe spending by $51 billion nt have all h of those mean spirite and riders attached to h.r. ones that on your own couldn't pass s anything over here, who

mr. president. it is a mad rush to see who could do the most sensational t amendment. bring it over here in the lightt of day as referred to the committee. have a hearing on that and ones that were done none would come , to the floor with rareloor exceptions. they were not willing to dohat. that. >> so the time for pragmatism i. overdue also. what the so this is what the senate is s going to do. we are going to vote early nextd week on the democrats' plans and republican plan. it seems fair. let the american people decide everyone will have a chance to be on the record supporting whichever they choose to do. b whichever plan. let me talk briefly about the merit of each of the plans and withhe able to. first of all, h.r. one which 1, will go down in history when ofe e e worst pieces of legislationc ever drafted in the history of .

this congress. first, the reckless republicanpt plan that he party has pushed through the house, that you'rel responsible proposal slices investments, cuts jobs and sacrifice is security andyes -- education. educati yes it cuts a lot of today. but america would lose so muchmb tomorrow because these cuts aree made arbitrarily without regarde for the consequences. that is why lean independent economists agreed it would hurt our economy's slow growth andlow cost jobs. the day before yesterday on thec national public radio, they hade more than 300 economists sitting with one voice don't do this. bi we can't be blinded by the big e numbers in the house republicanr plan. we have to scrutinize how they h cut the $63 billion the truth is it adds up to $61 billion ofon o

significant contraction of programs and the american people don't want to lose. t it slices more than a billionfrl dollars in social security. a billion which means half aon million seniors who paid inid i social security their entire lives and now are eligible forto wouldn't able to get thethem. benefits promised. this nobody to process the claims. c it cuts $700 million from education which means a million dollars disadvantaged students to lose money and the 10,000 aid teachers, aids and school staff could lose their jobs even take $200,000. of the head start program. are what's the head start program? are programs to educate the poorest of poor children. w it's worked out well.y try to find somebody that start criticizes head start program.

these are the boys and girls at, that have no alternative. and it's worked out well because the parents are involved.nate they're going to eliminate 200,000 children from thisrt. wonderful program of head starth the republican h.r. one closes cut $100 million from food that means the food could beat c mss safe and expensive and and that's really a lose lose proposition.lose it cuts three-quarters of a billion dollars, $750 million from a renewable energy investments and the reason that' is important, mr. president, is for people to do these kind ofry jobs. you can drive from my home and search let nv 36 miles, you gete about to the 31-mile mark and a the gough and there was apane bg million solar panels being a installed, and million solarrodg

panels putting huge amounts of electricity, summer and winter n and what we call the great dry lake. that is done because of these he programs. so we don't have to be holden to the middle east tire rim's shipping as oil.ee quarters o that's three-quarters of ars frm billion of renewable energyeners investments which will costtm us jobs, threaten the energythe day independence and delete the data america lives and works in theks utean energy economy.. it cuts hundreds of millions of dollars dollars from border security, federal emergency managementom agency's and when an emergency o comes up we need to be able to respond to that.th. even republican congressman or t said in the amending it's not so smart to pinch pennies on thes s backs of the national security first responders. in my conference room right cross the hall, one of the

shriver boys came to see me. me. the family has done so much for our country and the eldest shriver who just died the head of the peace corps, but probably the number one market has been how they have worked with their children, young men and women with challenges, physical dillinger some emotional challenges, and they brought a a number of those young men andyod women, some were not so youngt anymore and some of the programs that are being cut in h.r. one to help special olympics, the best but the program is another one. me and shriver told me he brought in member of the house of touseo representatives, an electedentai member who voted forve an e h.rd

and he said how could you dohowu that? how could you do that? you have a child with down syndrome. her response? i didn't know it was in the. bill. i didn't know it was in the tal bill. i just talked, mr. president, h.r. one -- how many pages in each or one?how manyages >> mr. president could you tell me how many pages are in h.r. one? >> three ander 82 pages. pag. >> 382 pages.ll, well, mr. p mr. president, i'veu talked about enough to take aupr couple or three pages, but it io full of the same kind of stuff that i've talked about here today. stuff that isn't fair and isant mean spirited.o we all want to cut. representhes i represent the state of nevada.

we are in a deep economicwe kno, problem. h we know that we have to cutavee things here. the presiding officer from the state of connecticut.necticut we are both members of theic democratic party. we have supported these programo because it is the right thing to do. we recognize there's going to have to be cutshave m madade. but we have to do them with anoa scalpel, not a meat cleaver, ane to have someone say well whydi didn't know it was in the bill. eliminating and cutting theicaly program for people who have emo challenges, emotional, mental, physical challenges.as i di indn't know what was in the the are a bill. o there's a lot of that same kindn of stuff in this bill, h.r. onee that's why it's going to beoy defeated here. and i have to say mr. president, to my friends, the republicans, i can't imagine that you will t. all vote for this. move we've got to move beyond

partisan politics and do what is right.how and i don't know how many, butea not all republicans will vote for that, and i've been -- i'vee been cascaded in the press. let's have a vote on the spit o, am willing to move to that. to but i couldn't do that. tha i had to file cloture on it to move move to proceed to it.th they won't even let me do that. though we are going to get to id because i know the proceduresett are not here. i can get to this bill and going to do it next week.of the but i just talked about the tipd of the iceberg with this mean spirited h.r. one. federal reserve chairman bernanke saidhese these cuts, at there are many more like them ay that i've already said are there, will cost a significant number of jobs. mark zantia, the chief economist at moody's and formerly the chief economic adviser for john mccain said h.r. one will cost u the country 700,000 jobs.plac fr

that -- those kutz please to have the of the burden on working families, low-incomeen children and seniors, and ittlei asks for little if any sacrifice from those who wait in the unnecessary tax payer funded subsidies they don't need to be that is no way to recover.si we'll and gas subsidies. of the former head of chevron oil said we don't need them. we're we are doing fine. mr. president, i've been very helpful to my farm state senators. i felt then work their way through droughts, floods, allint kindo of things to insure we understand how important agriculture is.he but, very, very few times in the history of our country, has the commodity prices been so high.bo it's been so high.ould don't you think if they take a m

little neck rather than to get o away from the head start programs, programs like that? m, >> our plan, mr. president, filed today by senator inouye,ar he is a very sensitive and good man. t i don't need to recount who hean is, one of the most famous men in the history of our country.g been in congress a long time. we always remember that this man is a hero not only on the ttlefiel battlefield of italy where he h badly badly injured and as a result histioni heroic actions we see the medal congressional medal of honor, but he's a hero here in the legislative halls also. the one of the leaders at the man watergate hearings and the other things he's done over the years to become a hero here intion tot addition to on the battlefieldsa

that's why democrats have a different plan, one thatdiffent represents the different priorities.the unit supported by the president oft e the united states. we know that we have to make cuts. t i sahaidt that here this mornino several times. we also know that when we cut wt nve to do it in a way that eco, strengthens our economy, not we can set. we have to look carefully at thc quality of the cuts cannot get blinded by the quantity. i said before we can lose a lot, of weight. you, like, anybody in this room. cut off your arms and your legs if it accthomplishes the purpose you've lost a lot of weight. but it. and that is what they have done with h.r. one. it. no well reasoned economist would recommend this. our plan cuts $51 billion from president obama's budget but in

a much more responsible way. we are eliminating redundancies, and the unnecessary bureaucratis programs, the funding for yourk. marks.pres we agreed to cutident, we' fundr your marks. i don't like that to reflect what the president of the united states i don't like it.unlieve a i believet we're we are giving t much power to the president in f we have obligations to be directed, but i have agreed lika all of us over here to accept that.member, remember, mr. president, yourbut marks -- when you have a budget of $10 you have to tenths of 1% of that goes to the rected congressional funding, still thf that the president didn't determine where it was going to be spent. say i the congress had a say, but weae have agreed, we have earmarks' in here, billions of dollars of ing to go towards cutting the deficit andt i have agreed to accept that.rya

and the necessary btiureaucratic programs and cutting the tngs. funding. mr. president, i commend my cobe friend, the senator fromklahoma. oklahoma, the gao report that tt shows all kind of redundancies, overlapping, a place we can cut money, let's do it.s thate're our plan recognizes we are notme in competition to determine who can cut the most.regard for the without regards to the cuts. whether we need to cooperate onw here we can cut the smartest. the house-passed plan is based on theology we believe ours is s based on reality, not. a veese are the dboecisions aboutl real money to solve real lives. problems that affect real lives determination that we have to also reflect our values. modesty we see the modestly weaker in's the economy, today's news about

employers hiring of the fastestt rate in a year on the national unemployment rate fell nearly ta the two-year low.yo we can't squander that cautiously eliminating 700,000 jobs. cautiousl it's cautiouslyy optimistic news with counterproductive cuts. so, mr. president, i hope when t we have these votes next week,e run from that. tha run from that. people will take all of theirand legislative life and afterward trying to live down the heavy voters for that stuff.tach vote for or against next week. these like all the votes are j about choices. but i just outlined is about the choices represent.il the the supplies, but we all know how this will turn out.er we know that meter will reach

the president's desk.e republicans like we won't vote hours. do. i hope they do. we now if it were a simple majoritu vote, we would win that, butnt republicans would establish aanv different sottandard, 60 votes.k we accept that so we will end uw back to square one without witho consensus, a budget without thee assurance we can keep the once e country running so once these e' votes are beshind us i hope each senator and members of congresso will find renewed motivation to do what weed needed to do since the beginning.ood come together and negotiate in good faith. negotiate, working on the consensus, compromise, isgislation in the art ofomprom compromise. ongislation is not the who can l flex their muscles the biggest wod the longest and the hardesti let's face the art offor t amera compromise, working out things for the american people. we have to acknowledge the answer that will allow us to move forward lies somewhere between the two perhaps and we have to recognize if any one

threatens a war footing one side stubbornly demands victorytubbor everybody loses.victory, eone that goes for both parties ins both chambers. chamb this negotiation will not happen inot the media and a solution cannot be found on the rhetoric, unrealistic idealism. it will happen when we sit downn and have an adult conversationea about what our country and that constituents need. that is the only worthyord in te exercise. how we invest taxpayers' money future, how we articulate our r prior priorities and citizens anditizs states across the country and tr our allies and adversaries around the world. the world it's not political among the most andgs mr. president, theres no dispute on the 53 democrats. we are willing to cut. from we've cut $51 billion from the president's budget., and as we talked about it, we are willing to do more, but we o are not willing to do this with a meat ax. i

we want to do the right way. we want to take a scalpel and ba very careful that we will affect people's lives. and we want, mr. president, when it's over with, we don't wantit, someone to say well, i didn't know that was in the bill even n though it affects that person as personally as anything could bee >> when we talk about where to c invest the cut everyone isuthe concerned about the budget. when we talk about how we can te get their here's the bottom line of the negotiation process. yes, we have to make toughs, bus choices. but that's what leadership is all about.and and it's true no one here willig wants.d, my friend the presiding officere was a long time attorney-general of one of our i was going to say mous most famous states, but our stas original states, noted for his

fairness, and if an attorney ger general or a lawyer is noted fo, fairness, that person is known to be willing to compromise. ise that's what it's all about. law- it's the same in the law as it e is here in the united states senate.get tre when we talk about how we can get there, the law bottom line is negotiation. we have to make tough choices.e, but that is, i repeat, with the leadership is all about. today, mr. president, marks 150n years since abraham lincoln took his first oath of office.presido mr. president of our country. the very existence at that timee wasstion in question. like the incomplete nisha and he swore to leave this great was capital building was on the natr finished. as he addressed the nation for the first time as president, president clinton stood on the east front of the capitol building under cranes and uncerh scaffolding is ethe present same time., 150 years later, the threats wes

face are nowhere near as dhakawo year as the civil war but lincoln's america was about to rndure but his words that hea afternoon are useful to us to, hear this afternoon we are agair at the moment of apparel in ourk country. and again, we will sink or swim together. as lincoln closed that inaugural address, 150 years ago today, in reminded a divided nation that, quote, we are not enemies but friends. though passion may have strained, it must not break oure bonds of affection. that is the end of the quote. tr lincoln then famously called on us to recall the better angels of our nation. those were his words. listen tos if we listen to his critical lee lesson of leadership at this critical moment in history, we will secure and part time of grt strong future for this great nation we call america.

now, senator durbin on the democratic leadership's strategy on spending levels for the remainder of the fiscal year. from the washington journal, c- this is about 25 minutes. we want to welcome back senator. durbin democrat of illinois, the number two democrat in thehost:e senate. thank you for being with back u. said it.s from today another c t

guest: it is shabby when you think we cannot reach an agreement. democrats, republicans, on how to fund government? we have big challenges ahead. we face a debt ceiling in a couple of months, literally whether or not because -- whether or not the united states of america will default for the first time in its history, which the -- which would be catastrophic for our country. we need to put together a five- year budget resolution that we think will move us toward a approach that will reduce our deficit. if we cannot fund government for the rest of the year it does not speak well for our prospects. host: i want to guess to a procedural question neither side has enough to offset a filibuster. what will happen next week procedurally, and what happens beyond those votes?

guest: we will demonstrate, what i think it's obvious, that hr1, which cuts $100 billion out of our budget this year is not realistic, goes too far, and cannot pass the senate. we then hope to propose a more honest and balanced approach, cutting up to $51 billion from president obama original -- president obama's original request. host:. this week president obama -- earlier this week, senator john boehner spoke about this. >> pass in the short-term bill

gives senate senate -- senate democrats two more weeks to either consider hr1, or all when their own plan for how we move ahead. americans have a right where the democrats plan to cut spending to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year is. host: he has been quick to point to you and senator harry reid for that plan. guest: our plan is to do it in a sensible way, and not go too far. i think the house picked a number. it originally said 60 billion, if you remember. a group in the republican caucus said let's up the ante. they went way too far. they made deep cuts to education, worker training, cuts in research and innovation, and

the basic infrastructure of america. i pointed those out in my home state. those cuts would be devastating to medical research. our national laboratory at oregon. in out of every student's private college in what draw -- dry up because of the pell grant reduction. we said let's step back, and this in a measured, thoughtful way. let's bring the deficit down. i hope we follow the model of the deficit commission, which i served on with erskine bowles and alan simpson, appointed by the president. that reduces the budget in a sensible way. host: that same deficit commission also look at entitlements -- medicare, medicaid, and social security -- president obama, so far has not address specifics on that item of the budget. why?

guest: he has not because this matter is evolving in the national debate between congress and the white house. first, let me make a couple of things clear. the commission addressed social security. social sector does not add one pay toward deficit. -- social security does not add one penny toward our deficit is not the problem. they do have a problem by the year 2037 if we do not do something before then. we will see it 22% reduction in the social security checks that are going out. until then, it is solvent, and will continue to be. what i believe the commission said and the american people will embrace is we have to look at the entire federal budget, from the mandatory entitlement programs, as to that tax expenditures, which means breaks in the tax code, reductions, and defense spending, and domestic spending